Disclaimer: I don't own Saints Row.
Drugs and crime aren't cool, keep in mind this is fiction!
The sun wasn't up yet at the Red Light District.
Most of the Saints were still sleeping, but The Boss and Gat had something scheduled for the day already: Breaking in a Samedi Reefer to appropriate their drug shipment.
She asked Carlos to come too, much to his relief. Since that day at the crib, they tried to avoid each other at all costs. It was probably a way of showing him that they were good.
Running a little late, Carlos dried himself, getting out of the shower, now that the Hideout had warm water functioning.
He then started to comb his hair on the mirror, but dropped the task half way, as one crushed sigh erupted from his chest. It happened every time his mind wasn't so busy, and he had a little time to think: The same feelings came to surface:
Sadness, anger, disappointment… He hated himself for being stupid enough to believe that The Boss could actually like him. 'Me.' He thought, chuckling bitterly.
'You should have settled for all the friendship she has for you, with all the favours she does even if you're not even worthy of this Lieutenant grade. But no, Carlos, you decided to dream it on and believe a fucking fortune teller, just because she told you what you wanted so much to hear.'
He walked to the jeans he was wearing the day before, retrieving a small package he always carried with him. It was painful to look at it now, like the little wrapping was making fun of everything that he hoped for.
He walked to the open toilet and raised his hand, with the intention of tossing it inside, but his hand just stood there shaking back and forth in hesitation. Then he simply let it over the sink, unable to get rid of it.
He still wanted to believe that there was a force out there capable of granting his wish... He knew it would be there for a long time, if not indefinitely. But for now, what choice did he have? He had to concentrate on the loyalty and respect he had for the gang leader, and try not to think about the feelings he had for the woman. The truth is she messed up with his heart from the day they met, even if by accident. He knew it wouldn't be fair to hold her responsible for his feelings. He joined the gang for other reasons too. It was time to focus on them.
He grabbed Hector's cross, the one that he never removed, not even to shower or sleep and muttered:
'God, if You can't help me bringing her heart to me, at least help me to do my job right, and do what she and everyone here expects of me. I'm Saint, I can't let them down, they are counting on me.'
A knock on the door pulled him back to reality, as Gat's voice filled the bedroom:
'We're ready!'
He opened the bathroom door a bit and poked his head, only to see Gat stretching himself on the armchair, while he pointed to a bottle of vodka that was over the dresser.
'Do you mind?'
Carlos smiled at how comfortable Gat could get, and the fact that he didn't mind drinking heavy alcohols before a mission. He replied friendly, glad to have a distraction from his dark thoughts:
'Mi casa es su casa, Gat.'
'Gracias guey*' Johnny replied in his perfect Spanish, making a toast and taking a long swig.
Carlos hastily put the first clean shirt and pair of pants he found on the bathroom, and didn't care to finish combing his hair. He simply placed his purple skull cap over it in a hurry and left to the bedroom.
'Is the Boss ready too?' He asked after a hesitation. They lived under the same roof but hasn't seen her in days.
'Yeah, she is at the entrance telling Shaundi how she put the head of a Ronin on the barbecue grill'
'Shit, I didn't know that.' Carlos said, sitting on the bed to put his sneakers.
'Yeah, apparently she was bored as hell.' Gat joked. 'Just glad that we're best friends'
'You have nothing to fear on that side' Carlos smiled, though his own joke came out bitter. 'If I keep doing as I am, I'm not so sure I won't end up on the roast as well.'
'Come on kid. Jokes aside, you're just starting. We know that' Johnny assured him, taking his lips off the bottle for a moment. 'Besides, I know The Boss enough to tell that she adores you. '
'I'm not so sure about that anymore' He said, going to the side of his bed, to grab a shotgun. Gat seemed a bit intrigued, but Carlos changed the subject:
'What are we going to do on that boat?'
'Well, Shaundi knows this guy that works on the stands near the docks. Big shipment of Loa Dust can't sit quiet for long. If everything goes smoothly, we'll have enough Loa Dust to fill the hideout.'
'Shaundi wasn't kidding when she said that The Samedi were knee deep into black magic.' Johnny whispered, as he, Carlos and The Boss entered through the deck on the living parts of the boat. It was a small corridor, illuminated by candles; the dark walls were decorated with cabalistic symbols and skull tags.
The environment was everything but healthy.
Above their heads, suspended by thin wires, hanged animal carcasses; suspicious stains covered parts of the ground.
'Well, this is a meat cargo ship' Carlos commented, bending to pass under the wire.
The Boss kicked something on the floor, as if to make a point: A pile of bones and more than one human skull.
'This ain't no chicken carcass, look.'
Johnny and Carlos turned to look at the remains, suddenly taken by an unpleasant sensation.
'Fuck… Human sacrifice.' Carlos muttered in disbelief and crossed himself. 'I thought this kind of shit only happened in movies or something…'
'These guys are fucked up' The Boss agreed as they proceeded into the cargo hold, against her will disturbed by the haunting discomfort that filled the building.
'Funny that no one is guarding a huge shipment like this.' Carlos considered.
He was right: Oddly enough they didn't find much resistance; the surprise factor must have been helping…
It seemed more like a ghost ship.
Gat was disappointed to find only one guy to shoot inside the room where many large boxes were stored, presumably containing the Loa Dust.
They started to open them, only to have another disappointing surprise.
'No drug.' Gat said finally, finding only frozen steaks on his box.
'Same for us' The Boss and Carlos inspected the last one.
They looked at each other and shrugged, ready to turn over. Waking up so early was useless, nothing of their interest could be found there. Was Shaundi high or something when she heard of this tip? No wonder the boat was almost empty of Samedi gang members, it had nothing on it.
On their way back, they passed over the dead body, the only Gat could count on today's score, and The Boss made them stop for a bit.
'I don't want to go back empty handed. Let's see if this guy has at least a sample on him, so we can give it to Laura.'
'Carlos, watch the door' Johnny said, starting to search the body. 'Hmm. Nada.'
'Where else could the sample be?' He checked the Samedi's pockets one more time.
'Hmm.' The Boss considered. 'I am pretty sure that it's in his rectum.'
Gat reacted in disgust immediately to this idea.
'Oh no, no. Shit you can't be serious?'
The Boss shrugged.
'They do that sometimes. In case the police che…'
'...Who will do it? Yo, I am not doing it.' He was quick to cut, so she looked at Carlos, who was even quicker to look away and pretend he wasn't there.
'Damn.' She sighed. 'Give me that plastic bag.'
Gat handed her a Lick a Chick bag on the floor and couldn't help but turn his head to one side as he started to picture what would the retrieving be like.
'Rock, paper, scissor ?' She asked, bag in her hand.
'Fine.' Gat consented, putting one hand behind his back. 'Go!'
They played and he lost.
'Damn it!'
'You can't just use paper every time Gat.' Carlos slipped, but regretted it as soon as Johnny glanced at him with a killer look. Maybe the Second in Comand sucked at the game, but he could still kick his ass alright.
'Hey don't complain it's usually me who gets the shitty part…' The Boss added to his relief.
Her interlocutor winced, not knowing if he was to laugh or to puke.
'Literally.'
At the control room of that same boat, four men watched the Saints interacting on a black and white screen.
An elegant man with shaved head, dressed in a suit was listening to their conversation attentively through earphones. Standing up right next, was a very tall man with dreadlocks and piercing green eyes.
The other two were bodyguards for their Boss, clad in green and carrying rifles.
'Those are the so called Third Street Saints?'
The Leader of the Samedi seemed unimpressed and removed his earphones, then turned to his second in command.
'Yes General' Sunshine replied respectfully. 'The Leader of the Saints, and second in command Johnny Gat.'
'I don't see how such a pair of idiots could be causing our crew so much trouble.' His voice was impatient.
Sunshine was quick to get the hint and apologized with a small bow.
'I'm sorry that we allowed them to interfere with our business for so long. I'm taking care of it myself, you can go back in peace.'
'I'm counting on you my friend' The General raised and put one hand on Sunshine's shoulder.
Sunshine raised and humbly opened the door for his Boss.
As soon as the General left, he reached for an intercom and biped another part of the ship.
'Is everything ready?'
'Yes, Mr. Sunshine. We prepared the altar like you requested.'
The theory was right: something that seemed like a small package of drug was retrieved from the dead guy's ass.
'Just so you remember, we didn't use to do those disgusting stuff back in the day.' Gat complained, and threw her the drug in retaliation for losing the game.
Out of reflex The Boss grabbed it in the air, regretting it immediately.
'Yeah, we will need to wash this bag before we give it to Shaundi.' She stated, holding the package away from her nose.
Carlos was going to add something to this conversation, but a faint noise of something rolling and bumping its way multiple times on the floor drew his attention.
He had the time to recognize the object, but none of them had the time to leave the room.
A flash bang.
It did its stunning effect in half a second, leaving the Saints without vision and faint ringing on their ears.
So much for the contact that gave them the false info about the shipment. This was a trap, pure and simple.
The Boss could feel someone grabbing her by the hair, after punches and kicks rain over her, Gat and Carlos. They couldn't even figure where the blows came from. When they regained their senses, the Samedi had wrapped their wrists strongly with ropes.
'Mr. Sunshine has plans for you three.' One of them said, as they dragged them into the engine room of the boat.
'What's taking them so long?' Shaundi asked Pierce. Lazy Friday, they enjoyed some take in from Apollos's in front of the TV. She was unable to reach Gat on the phone.
'Don't worry girl, they're probably done with the Samedi already. By now they must be 'researching' with all the Loa they got.' Pierce answered with a significant smile.
'Assholes…' Shaundi muttered. 'This is a gang, we're supposed to share, right?'
Sunshine waited, dressed in a long and green ceremonial robe, bare feet and for the first time without his colored knit hat. Behind the trio spotted, much to their disbelief, an improvised altar with many candles, skulls and tapestries.
'This is getting worst by the second.' Johnny muttered.
'Bow before the Sons of Samedi!' He commanded, but as this got nothing but faint laughs from the prisoners, he came closer.
'It's like this, by drinking the blood of our enemies, that we the Sons of Samedi, make ourselves stronger and prevail over our rivals!' He raised his arms in fanatic enthusiasm towards the altar, and the other gang members cheered, equally touched by these words.
He turned to The Boss and smiled, then stopped his gaze over Gat and Carlos, with delighted anticipation. Apparently, he enjoyed that part of the job a little too much.
'Let them go, you already have me. I give you my word that The Saints will leave your gang alone.' She said.
'They also disrespected us. They followed your orders when you had our farm burned, our men killed and our territory stolen. But don't feel sorry for them, you'll be all together soon.'
'You sick piece of shit!' She spat on his face, and one of his men immediately smashed his rifle on her head, revolted for that lack of respect towards Sunshine. The Boss dropped to the ground, groaning in pain. She brought one hand weakly to her head but couldn't even feel the wound. This was followed by a kick in the stomach, in the meaning of suppressing any more disrespectful behavior towards their superior.
Gat shivered in rage and vigorously chest bumped into the aggressor, knocking the man out of balance and hoping to draw their attention to him so they would leave his friend alone.
As he received a phenomenal punch in the stomach, he soon joined The Boss, face down on the ground, and the two exchanged a pained look, understanding each other: So far they were out of ideas.
Only Carlos stood quiet, though shaking in indignation and blazing the Samedi with a glance of pure hate. He stepped up, hopping that he would be picked first.
Sunshine shook his head negatively:
'Ladies and leaders first'. He made a sign for the gangsters, who bent to cut the ropes that encircled The Boss's wrists. 'Take her'
'If its blood you want take me, you bastards! Let her go!' Carlos voice screamed in the background.
* Thanks dude.
Next chap very soon!